NFC Phones list, all available handsets

What can you expect from the nfc applications at this time. What does it mean, an X in the table.

Tag reading/writing

1 – Home-made tags, program a sticker or key fob to automate your frequently used tasks. Buy Samsung TecTiles, Sony SmartTags, LG Tag+ or (cheaper) nonames. Use the pre-installed nfc app on your phone or get (a better) one in the store.

Different O.S, many different nfc apps and a not compatible tag-type… Other phones may have problems reading your key fob!Buy NFC Tags with universal compatibility
2 – Interact with a Smartposter, read the embedded tag in an object (for marketing purposes). Smartposters are still very rare. Don’t expect compatibility problems. Visit the “NFC tag page” for (almost) everything about tags. A huge page with Links to the different sections.

Pairing and sharing

Pairing, make the initial “handshake” between your handset and bluetooth devices such as headphones and speakers; Very few “gadgets” with nfc pairing available. Compatibility seems to be disappointing, probably due to the failing connection handover? Better do a test before you buy. If nfc pairing fails you can make your bluetooth connection manually.

Sharing music, photos, or videos with another device; For successful cross-platform use, the NFC forum released the SNEP Protocol for data exchange. Android 4.x, Blackberry, Meego, Windows phone 8 and Windows 8 do support the SNEP protocol. Unfortunately, in practice it is often problematic.

BlackBerry – Windows 8 phone; No feedback found.update; There are a number of known issues between BlackBerry 10 vs Nokia Lumia phones (BB 7.1 = ok). – Bluetooth Connection handover on the Lumia is not compliant with the NFC Forum specification. There’s an issue whereby the Lumia P2P server crashes when used with BlackBerry 10 (says BB). BlackBerry engineers say that the problem is with the Lumia devices. BlackBerry 10 P2P works fine with Android devices and other Nokia devices.

Small data exchange via nfc, between different O.S.’s, works because only the SNEP protocol is used for the entire data transfer. BlackBerry says the limit is approximately 8K, we talk about an URL or contact info.

What doesn’t work;

Bigger data, transfering photos or video, to a device with another operating system. This is done in 2 stages. File transfer is only initiated via NFC, then the devices handover the connection to Bluetooth to transfer the data. The content of the NDEF Message received over SNEP must include details to make a Bluetooth connection to the other device and start the transfer. For one reason or another, this doesn’t always work between different operating systems. Unfortunately the “connection handover” fails when we tap our handset to another device with a different O.S. The NFC-Forum released an application document for implementation of Bluetooth Secure Simple Pairing using NFC but developers and manufacturers are not obliged to apply NFC-Forum protocol specifications.

Payments

An X in the table means that the device is approved by Visa and/or Mastercard for their contactless application OR the phone already participates a mobile wallet with contactless payments somewhere. Approved is NO guarantee at all. Approvals can be worldwide, often just for one carrier. For details about supported Secure Element, wallet and market, see the lists with certified phones.
To participate a mobile wallet, compatible hard- and software is not enough. It also depends on business decisions.

Tap to pay, still far away?

NFC payments will account for 42% of all mobile payments made in Europe in 2015, according to Frost & Sullivan. I want to leave aside such predictions about the use.

Facts are;

1 – more and more debit/credit cards, mobile phones and other devices come with an NFC chip inside. In a few years we have Billions of nfc enabled phones and other devices, not only high-end handsets.

2 – On the other side, more and more places accept contactless payments, but the growth is not spectacular here.

3 – Without your carrier, bank and/or … for developing, allow and support a mobile wallet, the hardware is of no use. Many people already have an NFC enabled credit card. Try to make your first contactless payment where you see a PayWave or PayPass symbol. For small amounts no pin needed. Personally I find nfc more suitable for small money replacement than credit card replacement. Tapping with a card is not far away for most of us. Paying with a tap of a phone, Is available in very few places currently. Readying phones, retailers, public transport and expanding to other markets are still giant steps for mankind! For most of us, with or without nfc enabled phone, this is not available in 2014. Maybe you are one of the happy few 😉 .

Dave Hench

I have the Cricket Mobile variant of the HTC Desire 510, and the app says no NFC chip or not activated . Oddly I haven’t heard of any 510 actually having NFC. Although all of the literature speaks to the contrary.

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